


Shibi - Red Thread

by RoeDusk



Series: Tapestry - Prologue [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Lots of Sad Things Happen, Other, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 20:37:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11215830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoeDusk/pseuds/RoeDusk
Summary: Shibi is the only survivor of both his Genin Teams.  But he's not alone when he has people to be there for.





	1. Friends

Being assigned to one of the Legendary Sannin was more recognition than Shibi had expected. Years later he would learn Sarutobi feared losing Jiraiya back to the team he’d left in Ame, and did his best to recreate a team that would catch his interest enough to convince him to stay. Minato was an idealist and a theorist, Kato the rare loner Inuzuka known for bluntness and casual people watching, and Shibi with clan skills Jiraiya would have to be creative to train. A puzzle disguised as a favor for his old sensei. Jiraiya wasn’t paranoid enough to outmaneuver such a trap yet, not from inside the village, and they all passed the bell test in spite of him. So he kept them, and in his distraction foisted them off on other teachers whenever he was able.

The children of Ame still had his thoughts, and his hopes for the future.

Naturally their first bonding experience was over how upset they were at their Sensei, only a few days after the bell test. Kato had decided no matter what else Jiraiya was he certainly wasn’t a legendary teacher. Minato was trying to defend the Sannin, but still clearly upset and it made most of his arguments fall flat. Especially with Shibi poking holes in them whenever it seemed he might actually have a point. In short, they won Minato over, rather than the other way around.

So they were sitting in depressed/annoyed silence for a moment when Kato sarcastically suggested they just prove their worth by pranking the guy.

And it _was_ sarcasm, Kato was used to being talked over or not taken seriously.

Only Minato blinked, then brightened, and started listing all the different positives to the plan. Shibi only listened for a moment before nodding as he stood, declaring that is what they would do. And they dragged Kato and Konmaru into it against all the other boy’s better judgement.

It would set the tone of their teamwork for the rest of their lives. Kato, rather than being the impulsive one everyone outside their circle assumed, was unrepentantly sarcastic. He never intended any of the ridiculous things he suggested to be taken seriously. And most of the time they weren’t, when he was joking about his entire team being out to get him or the desk Chunin being evil. But every now and then he would make an offhand suggestion, fully intending it to be biting and earn a smile or two and then be shrugged off. Only Minato would take it as a serious suggestion and begin debating the merits and detriments of such a plan until Shibi decided they were going to do just that and set off, the others hurrying to catch up.

Kato always complained, but went along with it because Shibi tended to have good plans for even the strangest things. And a scolding by the Hokage wasn’t worth giving up sarcasm for. It was when Minato came up with a plan that the other two had to scramble to salvage everything.

His worst offence was the one that caught Jiraiya’s attention in the end. Not that Minato never had a stupider plan but he never went in alone again. See, Jiraiya had been doing his best to dump them on any other teacher he could get away with, and most of them had wised up and refused to help him. But one of the other Jounin-sensei, Nishi Yuhi, had decided someone should train them if Jiraiya couldn’t be bothered and accepted any time Jiraiya threw them at her. She was a terrifying kunoichi, enough that her fiance intended to take her name rather than keep his own, and they learned a lot from her genjutsu and taijutsu instruction.

Shibi still wasn’t sure what Hizashi had done to get stuck on her team, especially with Mikoto and Kushina, but he figured it was probably similar to what Kato had done to get stuck with them and Jiraiya-sensei.

They all watched Minato’s attempted courtship inch ever onward each joint session, accidentally insulting her into demanding training matches. Even Yuhi-sensei seemed entertained by the interruptions, though she always dragged everyone back on task before too long.

It was a time of friendship, training, and hopes for the future. Something to look back on fondly in the years to come. Minato was the first non-Aburame who remembered Shibi without prompting, who went looking for him if they hadn’t seen each other in a few days. At the time Shibi didn’t realize you could root for someone in a relationship and still want more of their time. A crush perhaps, or just realizing he had a friend for the first time. In the end it would grow into one of the closest of familial bonds, as Minato dragged others into similar positions in his life, but Shibi could admit the blond had been his first love.

He wonders if that’s how it was for Mikoto as well, how she was always drawn to the first person to ever argue with her that she was allowed to have a future of her own outside of that of an Uchiha noblewoman. If she ever fell in love a second time as deeply and as happily as he did with Utami, while still keeping a part of his heart open to childhood’s first teammate. It didn’t matter, because happy or not, in love or not, they were his family in the end, all of them.

Even when they did something especially stupid, like rushing after Kushina’s kidnappers without telling anyone.

Mikoto had been supposed to meet Kushina to hang out and panicked when she never arrived. Their missing teammates may never have gotten the lecture on bloodline snatchers but _she_ had. Mikoto went to Hizashi first, and though he couldn’t stay out long due to a clan curfew he was able to tell her Kushina wasn’t within his range.

Neither was Minato, however, so Mikoto tracked down Kato and Shibi to demand where their idiot teammate had taken her friend. Minato had left training to research something, so they checked the archives first, only to learn he had never arrived. So Kato and Konmaru tracked him to the village outskirts, where Shibi was able to take the lead - following the Kikaichu he’d seeded their teammate with.

They arrived after Minato freed Kushina and they took out the initial attackers, but before reinforcements arrived. Mikoto and Kushina realized they were being targeted for capture and were all too happy to lure their opponents into the boys’ attacks.

Yuhi-sensei showed up awhile later, sent by a worried Hizashi with Jiraiya in tow. They found a shaken team of genin, all having made their first kills, and a squad of mostly dead enemy nin. There was only one enemy survivor, one Shibi had taken down by draining their chakra and was moving to eliminate. Jiraiya stepped in before he could and the man disappeared into T&I.

Back in the village half an hour later the genin clustered together as the adults all tried to figure out what had gone wrong. Kato looked ill, and Konmaru was trying to comfort him but couldn’t get the taste of blood out of his mouth. Kushina and Minato were giving their report for the second or third time, loud and quiet and holding each other together and standing long enough to see it through. Mikoto, Kato, and Shibi sat together along the wall and waited their turn. Yuhi-sensei watched as they shifted close enough to brush shoulders and elbows, and the way Konmaru took up position in front of them as a shield.

Mikoto studied the blood under her nails for a long time, then nodded.

“I would do it again,” she told them in a low voice.

“Of course,” Kato agreed with a growl. “It’s not like we’d let them hurt our friends.” He and Konmaru were both still shaking but determined nonetheless.

“Next time we will have a better plan,” Shibi decided. The others nodded in agreement even as Mikoto laughed quietly.

“As long as those two give us the chance.”

“We’ll beat it into them,” Kato told her with a smirk of his own. “Between you and Hizashi, Konmaru, Shibi, and me, I estimate we have a 50 - 50 chance of getting through to them.”

 


	2. Family

After that Jiraiya-sensei was finally convinced they were worth his attention. Or, rather, he was convinced Minato was and Minato refused to leave his teammates behind. The Sannin was still prone to taking sudden “research trips” or getting caught up spying on the bath house and forgetting they were supposed to train, but he no longer dumped them on anyone other than Yuhi-sensei. (Except right before the chunin exams, when he took Minato on a special training trip and left the others a note to try their best.)

Kato, Konmaru, and Shibi cornered Minato and bullied a promise out of him to let them know next time someone was kidnapped. They could only assume that Team Yuhi did the same with Kushina, but didn’t know for sure. They trained together in their off time now, more like a team of 6 than two 3 man teams. They watched Minato and Kushina flirt awkwardly and worked out a couple of clan secrets no one was to know they shared. Like Juken didn’t pass through a Kikaichu barrier but could destabilize the genjutsu disguising a Kikaichu clone. Or that a Sharingan could in fact copy a nin-dog’s jutsus, just not assist in performing them for obvious reasons.

Shibi deeply regretted asking his friends to help him train past his taijutsu weakness. The look on his opponent’s face when he dodged and punched them out, rather than using a kikaichu shield, was almost worth it though. They passed the chunin exams in two sweeps, the second three entering as a team that worked just as well as either original.

As chunin they were less likely to work together, but the missions when they did always went the smoothest. They were close, distant from all their peers but comfortable enough beside one another to work in all but perfect tandem. Shibi was no longer overlooked or forgotten, but rather sought out, sometimes even with conflicting social events. His parents would have been happy for him. Grandmother thought so too.

 

Then the war started, too soon and too deliberate to be anything but lingering resentment over the second shinobi war. They were separated, sent out in teams to the front. And while some good came of it, Shibi and Hizashi meeting their future wives, there was too much lost to justify the gain.

Children were pulled from the Academy before they were ready, assigned to whatever Jounin weren’t caught up in the scouting or information gathering teams. The expectation being that they would finish their studies with a field promotion to chunin when things intensified.

Minato applied immediately after reaching Jounin, and lit up when he got the notification that he’d been assigned a team. Kato stared at his assignment in horror and the same dinner before asking Hizashi to kill him and hide the body. Mikoto just smiled and nudged the other woman in the ribs as the redhead pouted, promising to let her help train her team. Minato quickly extended the same offer for his team, and Kato offered to _give_ her his - starting her on a rant and shaking her out of her bad mood.

Shibi knew how she felt. No one in the village wanted to trust Konoha’s Jinchuriki with children, the same way an Aburame wasn’t even considered when they applied. Hizashi had his sworn service to the Main Family in the way as well, though he seemed happy enough inviting himself and his girlfriend along to Kato’s training.

Shibi had grown too accustomed to being seen, and trusted as something deeper than a stereotype. He smiled faintly when Mikoto shot him a considering look, and accepted her invitation to help out with her team when she offered. It would be enough.

 


	3. War

It was hard to keep it feeling like enough when the children’s eyes slid past him nervously. When he had to refrain from correcting their strategies to keep from interrupting one of Minato’s team-building exercises. When he couldn’t march into the Hokage’s office and refuse to allow these children to be sent away to war.

But Hizashi wanted him to meet his fiance, Gen. Kato needed his help for a Taijutsu demonstration. And Mikoto wanted him to show her team the correct way to track an escaped pet. Utami kept him on his toes as well, smiling at his attempts at courtship because she was honestly willing to give him a chance. He was able to keep himself distracted from the reality of war for a little longer just by keeping too busy to have much free time.

Ignoring the problem never makes it go away, though.

Kato was the first of them to fall, remaining behind in the vague hope of buying his team enough time to escape. Tenchou managed to escape and find backup, but the others were captured keeping the bloodline hunters away from the Hyuuga. Konmaru showed up a few days later, and led the extraction team to where the genin were being held. Ibiki was extracted, and Kato’s body recovered, but Konmaru died in the attempt and Yemon was never found.

They blamed themselves, Tenchou resigning from active status in spite of Hizashi and Gen’s best efforts. Ibiki was easier in some ways, determined to make up for what was lost and accepting of help towards that end. But he didn’t want to talk about what happened, with anyone, only allowing them to assist with his physical healing. Shibi wished he could do more than offer a place for silence, but he would help that way as long as he was allowed.

Minato’s team lost Obito shortly after, and they pulled together to watch after their remaining genin as much as possible, even those who weren’t genin anymore. And yet, and yet Rin still got kidnapped, still died just hours from comrades and safety. Minato desperately sought an answer in the notes of the Second Hokage, hands shaking as he searched for a way to just bring Rin and Obito back. Shibi cursed Jiraiya-sensei’s absence and sought Kushina, who finally managed to convince Minato their lost loved ones wouldn’t want this. So they perfected Hirashin together, experimented with technique and seals until Minato pulled it off. Shibi hopes the Nidaime was proud of his legacy. He likes to think he must have been.

 

No sacrifice was in vain, no matter how dear, and they won in the end. A treaty signed for peace, to keep Konoha’s newest warrior safely away from the other nations. Minato was asked to remain in the village for the foreseeable future, and Kushina finally cornered him and proposed.

The wedding was small, and unannounced to protect the participants. Mikoto’s team helped set up, then headed home to clean up and grab their wedding gifts after receiving their D-ranked pay. Ibiki arrived early, and Kakashi showed up on time for what might be the last time in years, but Tenshou never came. Shibi only wished Kato could have been there to roll his eyes at the newlyweds with the rest of them.

They honeymooned in the Uchiha district at Mikoto’s invitation, and when they returned to accessibility Minato was shocked to receive appointment as Hokage. Kushina congratulated him after telling him off for achieving her dream. And for a moment it seemed like they’d lost enough.

 


	4. Loss

The Kyuubi attack cut a swath across both the land and lives of the village. So many comrades lost or wounded beyond recovery. Minato, the fourth hokage, dead, along with Kushina and their unborn child. Yuhi-sensei and her husband. Shibi’s Grandmother, and most of the oldest clan heads, all to save the younger generations where they could. And the children, hidden away behind barriers, evacuated and left to wait for families who would never return, but so blessedly alive. They’d lost so many, but protected what was most important.

The death toll didn’t stop with the Kyuubi. The survivors were stretched thin for years afterwards, struggling to keep up with the demand for services and still maintain Village security after such a tragedy. Shibi struggled to keep his friends and family close and safe, and fell in love with the child Utami had granted them. He did his best to be in the village more, often babysitting for Hizashi or Mikoto while the others were out on missions. He checked in on the former genin too, and they held each other together the best they could. There was something to be treasured in the chance to hold his son, or advise a confused teenager, and Shibi did his best to make the most of it.

Utami died next, tearing his heart out so soon after losing his friends. They were on a mission that should have included a whole squad, and expected to perform it with only three members. With her fell Gen and Shikuro, and Hizashi broke at the loss of his wife. Shibi wanted to break as well, felt it lingering sometimes, but he couldn’t. He had to be there for Shino, for Torune, who had just lost a father, and for Hizashi, who needed someone to hold both their heads above drowning. They were given leave, and while Shibi watched Torune recover slowly, even open up again, Hizashi only seemed to get worse.

He still wonders if he could have saved him if they had more time. But the Hyuuga Incident robbed Hizashi of even that.

The Village was in an uproar, Kumo jumping easily to the most-hated position in popular opinion. And Mikoto was furious. She stormed into the Hyuuga Compound to give them a piece of her mind, only to return in the dark hours after midnight with a crying, drunk, Hiashi Hyuuga. Shibi had never been able to think fondly of the other shinobi, never understood how he could push away someone so precious, so dear to him, that they no longer spoke. But Mikoto asked him to help, and he sat with the broken man for the rest of the night. Mikoto left at dawn, but Hiashi lingered, only leaving a few hours after lunch. The next day he returned, with an apology, thanks, and an oath to allow them a place in Neji’s future.

Which is why Shibi still invited the other Clan Head to sleep off the worst of his hangovers when the anniversaries snuck up on him over the years.


	5. Conspiracy

Eventually the youngest among them were allowed out into the field again, and the pace of missions became more manageable. Shibi trained for a year between missions to manage the Aburame’s defences, then applied to remain in the village as their keeper. Sarutobi granted it, and so he was able to stay within the Village walls and run the clan, watch his sons and godsons grow. Mikoto spent whatever time she was in the Village with her family, but made sure to see Shibi at least once each time. They were both struggling to keep their families together, and both understood how hard it could be, but he appreciated the effort.

Between Neji’s grief, Torune’s special circumstances, and simply being there for Shino, Shibi had less time to babysit Mikoto’s boys than he had before. It didn’t strike him as that odd that he saw so little of Itachi these days, especially if the rumors of the boy’s involvement in ANBU were true, and he still saw Sasuke when he picked Shino up from school. Sometimes he’d even walk the boy home, if his family was busy. But a decrease in time spent with them didn’t make him blind to village politics.

The whispers weren’t that well hidden, not for a ninja old enough to split his attention anyway. He was sure Shino had heard some of it as well, quiet as he was. The other children didn’t seem to notice, too interested in what was right in front of them, but he wondered if some of Sasuke’s search for approval was caused by strangers shunning the Uchiha in public. It worried him that the clan was being ostracised, and that the whispers seemed enough to encourage the other clans to keep their distance as well. Shibi made sure to openly visit Mikoto, but while his clan noticed, most others overlooked the Aburame as they often had before.

Fugaku, however, noticed. And while he did not approve of Mikoto’s openness in sharing their concerns with the other Clan Head, he appreciated the public support, promising to tell him if there was anything Shibi could do to help.

When Torune went missing Fugaku took extra hours after a long day so he could be part of the initial response team.

There was no sign of a fight, no evidence Torune had ever left the field on Aburame lands he preferred to visit. Which, of course, made it obvious he’d been spirited away instead of just getting lost. It was only a few years since the Hyuuga Incident, so an attack by one of the other villages was the most likely. The Police Force wrote a detailed report for ANBU use and sent it to the Council to be pursued.

But the Council insisted that Torune had wandered off, and that assigning ANBU to look for a missing child was a waste of resources. What purpose would a foreign nation have in kidnapping a child of the Aburame clan?

Which made no sense, even without informing them of Torune’s special bloodline, the Aburame were the only clan able to support the Kikaichu within their bodies. And the kikaichu themselves would be reason to kidnap a child, just to keep as a host while studying them.

Mikoto invited him and Shino to stay in the Uchiha compound while his clan increased the defences on Aburame land, and he accepted. Once the boys were in bed he told her and Fugaku of his suspicions, of Torune’s rare bloodline, and the rinkaichu. His voice broke towards the end, and Mikoto held him as he cried. Fugaku suggested the Council’s inaction was a smokescreen, either covering up a deal they had made with one of the other countries or… a use for Torune closer to home. Mikoto was quick to cut in, insisting they keep in mind the Council could be investigating the disappearance in secret, and needed to keep the other nations in the dark by denying their actions in public, but her doubt made all of them uncomfortable.

In the end they were too suspicious to leave anything to that chance. Fugaku promised the Military Police would not give up on the case, and Shibi would be kept informed on their investigation, as well as what Fugaku’s more personal connections turned up.

Shisui was found dead weeks later, missing both his eyes. It was too much of a coincidence, someone in the village was collecting bloodline limits, and the Council was covering it up. Shibi visited Neji, taking the opportunity to quietly warn Hiashi. They would likely go after the Hyuuga again if they hadn’t already.

Ibiki would tell him later that it was the Yamanaka who had been hit first, losing an orphan shortly after the Kyuubi attack, but not close enough to assume he died in the disaster. Fuu would have been two years older than Torune, maybe even friends, but he’d been snatched away as well. And Inoichi wasn’t even aware the Council had kept his missing child report from ever seeing the light of day, convinced they were still looking.

Hiashi turned over several unmarked ninja several months later. They’d been after Neji, and Shibi was honestly surprised they were still alive. The Police refused ANBU’s request for jurisdiction when the Council sent them to try and claim the ‘foreign shinobi’, and tensions started to rise.

It didn’t help that some sort of seal killed the prisoners before they could question them, giving the Council a chance to accuse them of brutality. Sarutobi tried to diffuse the situation by asking Fugaku to turn over the investigation reports for review, but the Clan Head refused. Sarutobi would show them to the Council and the investigation would stall, if he wasn’t already involved, but the refusal did not help their case or public perception.

Everything was falling apart, faster than they could hold it together. The Council looked ready to declare the whole investigation traitors to the village, and the Police kept finding new evidence of secrets the Council had swept under the rug. Shibi could only hold on to the memory of a Village that Kato, Hizashi, Kushina, and Minato had died believing in. He would do whatever he could to protect _that_ Village, for the precious people who remained.

He couldn’t give any more than his all. It would have to be enough.

 


	6. Massacre

The night started like any other. Shibi collected Shino and Sasuke from the Academy, taking them home so the boys could train together. Mikoto had been asking him to look after Sasuke more now, a show of trust and something to keep him from despairing over Torune’s loss. Shibi appreciated the thought, and not just because he enjoyed the boy’s presence. Sasuke made Shino smile again, and that was worth more than Shibi could ever say.

After one of the clan guards had left with Sasuke, escorting him back to the Uchiha Compound’s gates as they did every night, Shibi helped Shino wash the dishes, then saw him off to bed. The sun set, and the sky turned a deep blue. Then Shino shuffled out of his room tense and frowning.

“Shino. What is it?” Shibi asked, rising to meet his son in the doorway.

“Sasuke,” Shino whispered, brow furrowing further. “He’s in pain.”

And out of all the things Shibi could teach him, could understand or explain, his mother’s gift as a sensor was not one of them. For just a moment Shibi wondered if anyone would ever even notice, see Shino’s perception as more than just an Aburame tracking ability, but he would find a way to deal with it later.

“I will check on him,” he promised. Then, leaving Shino at his cousin’s for the night, he headed for the Uchiha Compound.

The scent of blood reached him before he was even in sight of the wall.

ANBU training kicked in then, footsteps falling silent as he faded into the shadows. Over the wall, faster than even most trained eyes could follow. Past the bodies dumped in the street almost unseeingly as he sought Mikoto’s house.

When he finally arrived he found Sasuke, still alive, and an ANBU demanding he tell them what happened.

There was a low growl as the Kikaichu agitated under his skin, and the ANBU’s head snapped up in alarm, weapons snapping into their hands. But Shibi wasn’t paying any attention to them, sliding forward to gather up the shaking boy the other had dropped. Sasuke struggled for a moment, before his eyes suddenly focused and he latched on to Shibi as tightly as he could.

“I’m here, Sasuke,” Shibi breathed, pulling the boy as close as he could, enfolding him further into the folds of his clothes and blocking as much of the world from sight as he could. Sasuke wormed his way under Shibi’s jacket, uncaring of the Kikaichu that crawled over him as they whirled into a protective shield. Shibi turned to glare at the ANBU as they moved to interfere, and they backed off.

“Big Brother…” Sasuke whimpered after a long moment. “He, he killed them.” Then he was crying again, shaking and unwilling to say anything more.

Shibi pulled Sasuke further under his jacket, questions and suspicion whirling through his mind. But he didn’t ask for clarification, didn’t doubt the accusation. Instead he reached deep into the ground beneath the village and woke the Aburame’s defence. Insects woke and crawled their way from the ground, rising in a cloud and pursuing the chakra lingering around the bodies. The ANBU scrambled out of the way as the swarm erupted, chasing the killers, and flead to report, returning half an hour later with backup and the Hokage.

It would take the clan months to calm the swarm, yet only days to seal them back into hibernation below the village. Itachi escaped, an accomplice rescuing him with an ability to somehow shield their chakra completely, breaking the trail, but the swarm would wake if he returned now, Shibi would see to it.

Sasuke was reassured by his promise at least, even if Itachi’s escape terrified him.

“We will find him,” Shino promised the other boy firmly, startling Sasuke out of his brooding for the first time in days. “Either the clan will, or we will when we’re old enough.”

Shibi felt something mend, just slightly, when Sasuke smiled at the promise, the first time since the massacre. They would never forget but maybe, maybe they weren’t irrevocably broken. If Sasuke had even the slightest chance of being ok Shibi would do whatever was needed to make that chance a reality.

 


	7. Politics

In hindsight it shouldn’t have surprised him that, while everyone else was dealing with the fallout of an entire clan’s murder, the Council was consolidating power. Their disorientation immediately following the attack could mean they weren’t involved, but Shibi couldn’t dismiss what might just have been horror at the scope of their plan’s destruction. They were all also competent, experienced ninja, who’s to say they weren’t faking it?

He’d become a cynic somewhere along the line.

Regardless, the Council started lauding the Uchiha, talking about their contributions to the Village, their hand in founding Konoha all those years ago. Entirely contradicting their earlier suspicions and accusations. Rather than allow the Police force to be reformed in the hands of another clan, the Council decided to hand jurisdiction over internal crimes to ANBU, to ‘honor’ the Uchiha’s memory. Coincidentally seizing control of the jurisdiction themselves.

The Uchiha compound was cleaned, all personal items seized for clues as to what Itachi had wanted, but no one was allowed to live within those walls, again out of honor for the Uchiha’s loss. On the other hand, this left the shops, buildings, and residential areas owned by Uchiha businessmen in the Council’s hands, but they only promised residents they would not have to move out, not mentioning where their rent would be going.

And they refused, point blank, Hiashi’s petition to place Sasuke in the care of another clan.

It was argued that allowing any Clan to take him in would effectively doom the Uchiha legacy. Instead Sasuke would be given a stipend from the village, his Clan and parents’ savings to be granted upon becoming Clan Head. It sounded genuine, even reasonable, except Sasuke hadn’t left his guest room at Shibi’s since ANBU had finished questioning him. And it would leave him living in the house his parents died in, the house haunted by Itachi’s memory.

When the Clan heads were asked to swear to uphold the decision, Shibi didn’t speak. He was an Aburame, they would overlook it or not as it pleased them, and for once he could use that. Hiashi considered him for a long minute but didn’t comment, and no one else even looked at him.

“The Hyuuga will not interfere with the boy’s living arrangements,” Hiashi announced dryly, and the other clans agreed. Shibi felt the sliver of a smile threatening behind his collar, and gave Hiashi a nod in thanks. Let them think that was his response, he had children to get back to.

The ANBU guarding Sasuke nodded as he returned, but made no move to take the boy or cross the border into Clan Lands. Shibi returned the greeting, nodded to the clan guard, and stepped inside. Shino he found on the floor in Sasuke’s room, explaining each insect in the Clan’s insect encyclopedia before turning another page. Sasuke was curled up beside him, a handful of Shino’s kikaichu crawling around his shoulders as he asked questions or leaned closer to see a picture.

They hadn’t seen him yet and he hesitated in the doorway, wondering if he should just sneak away and leave them to their fun. Then Sasuke caught sight of him and smiled, a small fragile smile. Shino startled out of the middle of his explanation, then realized he could sense his father home again and smiled as well. It was an impossibly simple thing, and Shibi found himself smiling back. He settled on the floor with his children and let Shino drag him into an explanation of the Suzumebachi. His duties would keep, right now there was no where else he’d rather be

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not this whole story started with me wondering what it would look like if Minato was Shibi's first childhood crush.   
> The Aburame are clearly my favorite clan, I should just give into the inevitable and admit it. 
> 
> This series has devoured my mind for months, so here you have it, part one. (And pretty much devoid of authors notes...) Will try to get the rest up before work.


End file.
